IT’S ALMOST OVER

The holidays are all but over. The New Year begins tomorrow, so I’d like to re-examine the last ten days or so. Our joy began with the arrival of Victoria and Kevin. We admire them so much and are in awe of their accomplishments and the special time we spent with them is memorable for PP and I.

When Lynn, Rich and Rob arrived the special times continued. Our conversations were very revealing. Rob has a fulltime job and his second year at Harvard is on hold while he spends time in Africa.

Everyone was here again for Christmas Eve and there was much noise and turmoil. Everyone was boisterous and filled with the thrill of being together. PP and I received many gifts, as always too many but they were appreciated. Also we had an abundance of food with plenty of leftovers which leads me to tell you what has happened.

Because so many of the family brought food in plastic, I now own a vast amount of containers with matching lids. I think that means it’s going to be a great new year according to Chinese proverbs.

As usual we spent Christmas Day at Chris’s with all the traditional food she prepared and the assortment of cheeses provided again by Victoria and Kevin. The following day Jessica, our oldest granddaughter and her family arrived with our first great granddaughter. A curly headed beauty, she was the star of the occasion and for the first time she slept at her grandmothers overnight. Four dogs were also in attendance.

We are blessed to have nine grandchildren, six girls and three boys who enjoy being together.

Today we put away the Christmas decorations and the trees. The house is swept and I finally found the tablecloth I’ve been searching for.  So everything’s right with the world today, except for those damned Republicans.

I MADE A MISTAKE

Yes I’ll admit it. I made a mistake when I called the former Republican candidate for President of the United States, Senator John McCain a “Show Horse”. After his remarks on television today, I revised my feelings about him. He’s no “Show Horse” he really is a “Jack Ass!”

In future blogs, you’ll know of whom I speak when I allude to Senator J.A.

MAKING A DIFFICULT DECISSION

There was an article in today’s paper about a doctor in her fifties not wanting anymore procedures done on her cancer ridden body. She wanted to be alert and able to spend time with her family knowing nothing could save her.

After I read this article, I looked at the large painting above our living room sofa and thought about our very special friend Mary. We are blessed to have this picture because every time we were in Mary’s art studio, I would stand and admire it.

Mary had cancer about ten years before her death and when she was diagnosed again, she told everyone, including her children that she would not go through radiation or chemo again.

When we visited her in the hospital she looked wonderfully healthy as she told us she was refusing anymore treatment and was going into a nursing home until the end. I couldn’t understand this because she seemed to be normal in every way. She had convinced her children that this was what she wanted and they finally agreed not to argue anymore about her decision.

A short time later, we visited her in the nursing home. She was lying in her bed and seemingly asleep. My husband and I stood on either side of her and each took a hand, she opened her eyes and smiled at us and then closed them again. The medicine she was receiving kept her pain free. She knew who we were, but said nothing.

We had planned to visit again several days later, but our daughter called to say she had died. She was 76 years old.

Mary was a professional artist, but also a student of our artist daughter which is how we first met her. She became an important member of our extended family and attended many celebrations in our home and was beloved by us and many others.

She made the right decision for herself. I hope as we all grow older, we’ll be able to make the right decision as to our own care.

DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?

My brother, who is close to 80 years old, tried to vote in the Ohio elections this week but couldn’t because he no longer had a driver’s license. Although he brought along his valid passport as identification, he was told he needed his birth certificate and verification of his street address like a utilities bill to the home where he has lived for over forty years.

He returned later to the same precinct and brought with him a folder containing his birth certificate, his baptism certificate, his first communion certificate, his marriage certificate and his honorable discharge papers from the United States Marine Corps.

When presenting this to the same poll worker, he said “now, do you know who I am?”

 

MORE OLD AGE STUFF

Yesterday I played bridge again. I arrived early and there was a woman I hadn’t met already there. She was filling in for someone and hadn’t played bridge in quite a while. She needed to know some of our rules and was very worried because she was 90 years old and wasn’t too sure of herself. I told her that quite a few of our players were already 90 and she’d fit right in.

Just then Dottie came into the room and I introduced them saying she was also in her 90’s. Dottie told her she is 99. Another came in and said she was born in 1923. At this the new woman put her face in her hands, laughing and crying at the same time.

I think sometimes people keep to themselves too much only to find there are people just like them everywhere.

 

TROUBLE AGAIN IN THREES

Everybody knows that troubles come in threes

Yesterday for the third time in three weeks, a friend has died. Two of the deaths were unexpected and the third person had been very ill.

Then, we found an infestation of tiny bugs in our pantry. After checking out such things on the computer, we got lots of information. I threw out many things containing wheat and sugar. I had been keeping flour in the refrigerator, but that wasn’t enough. I found a package of angel hair pasta which had bugs all through it. I figured that the easiest way to get rid of them was down the disposal, but the pasta, which I had broken up, caused the disposal to clog up.  Once again I consulted the computer. My husband, after much plunging had to remove the trap to free up the drain and that took up about an hour, (including recriminations)

In the meantime, two men came to fix our sprinkler system and found that the control valve for the whole system was probably the cause of our problem. The valve was buried near the water hose outlet; we had never known where it was. It required a lot of digging before being found and replaced. Cost over $350.00. That was our three in one day.

We had hired a company to fertilize our yard and kill all the weeds which are everywhere. The dead spots we found aren’t from chinch bugs, but because our sprinkling system had failed.

On Monday our yard will be sprayed and a new Heat Pump will be installed because of a leak in our air conditioner/ heating unit.

However, the worst thing happening yesterday was the news that our son’s home had seriously unknown water damage inside the walls of his house. Much work will have to be done there. Is this number two or three of the issues found by the contractor when their new flooring was installed?

MADISON TAKES A MEETING

Our granddaughter Madison at age 15 is tall, slender with long wavy dark hair and beautiful. She’s extremely funny, brilliant and at times acerbic.

Recently at a family gathering she asked me, no, she DEMANDED to know what I had done with her bicycle. I told her I had no idea what she was talking about. And promptly forgot about it.

Last week after getting up in the middle of the night to use the facilities, as is my wont, I couldn’t get back to sleep. I was thinking about some touch-up painting that needed to be done in our bedroom. That led to me remembering the day Madison’s mother helped paint the room. She brought along Madison who was about seven and her sister Samantha about five. Our older daughter also came to help out. So there were four adults and two children here.

As the painters were working, Madison took a survey.

SURVEY: If you were to have a meeting, what time would you like it to be held, one, two or three o’clock? The consensus of the adults was three.

If you were to have a meeting, where would you like it to be held, the living room, family room or screened-in porch? The screened-in porch won.

If you were to have a meeting, what would you like as a beverage? The adults chose beer and the others chose soda.

So a meeting was arranged on our screened-in porch for three o’clock when the painters would be finished. Madison said she would handle the refreshments.

THE MEETING: An agenda was announced as we all sat on our porch chairs at the stated time.

First, we would stand to pledge allegiance to the flag. A short prayer from Pap Pap would follow. Next, someone was to recite a poem from memory and another was to tell a funny story. We each had to participate in some way.

Refreshments would then be served after the BICYCLE race on the outside patio. All five of us were to complete a circle on the bike. That bicycle was actually a TRICYCLE and a wheel was broken, so no one could ride it and it was later donated to Goodwill.

When Madison left the porch to retrieve the refreshments, we all burst out laughing at the wonderfully funny experience.

And the mystery of the missing bike has now been solved.